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Science in Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia ranks #15 of 192 countries on research quality in 2022–2025 (#31 all time), with 156k research works and 23.4% of them in the world's top 10%.

World rank, 2022–2025
#15
of 192 · #31 all time
Works, 2022–2025
156k
▲ 104% vs 2013–17
Top-10% rate
23.4%
record average 16.5%
In the world top 100
1
20 in the top 1,000
Open access
58%
world 63%

What is Saudi Arabia strongest at in science?

On research quality in 2022–2025, Saudi Arabia ranks highest in Dentistry (#3 of 64), Computer Networks and Communications (#4 of 71) and Water Science and Technology (#4 of 62). Relative to its size it is most specialised in General Dentistry, Orthodontics and Modeling and Simulation.

FieldWorld rankWhere that sitsTop-10% rateWorks
DentistryField #3 of 64 16.6%3,352 Institutions
Computer Networks and CommunicationsSubfield #4 of 71 34.1%2,221 Institutions
Water Science and TechnologySubfield #4 of 62 27.0%1,350 Institutions
MathematicsField #6 of 82 23.3%4,737 Institutions
Information SystemsSubfield #7 of 93 37.7%2,567 Institutions
EngineeringField #11 of 134 23.8%25,788 Institutions
ChemistryField #6 of 73 23.6%4,496 Institutions
Health ProfessionsField #9 of 108 22.6%4,171 Institutions
Organic ChemistrySubfield #6 of 65 24.6%2,552 Institutions
Computer ScienceField #13 of 131 32.5%14,309 Institutions
Artificial IntelligenceSubfield #9 of 90 32.5%4,846 Institutions
Materials ChemistrySubfield #8 of 74 22.4%5,778 Institutions

Where its research is concentrated

Location quotient: how much more — or less — of each node it does than its size predicts. Drawn around 1×, where “twice the world share” and “half of it” are the same distance apart in opposite directions. A volume reading, which on a country axis is largely population and industrial structure.

  1. General DentistrySubfield · 395.3 works5.8×
  2. OrthodonticsSubfield · 908.7 works5.2×
  3. Modeling and SimulationSubfield · 1,056.7 works4.8×
  4. DentistryField · 3,352.2 works4.4×
  5. Oral SurgerySubfield · 1,319.0 works4.4×
  6. Numerical AnalysisSubfield · 528.8 works4.0×
  7. PeriodonticsSubfield · 729.2 works3.4×
  8. Research and TheorySubfield · 122.2 works3.0×
← less than its size predicts1×more →

The whole field profile

All 26 fields at once. A specialist and a generalist produce the same ranked list and a completely different shape.

Agricultural and Biological Sciences: 0.79× its world share, 5,889 worksAgricultural and Bio…Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology: 0.89× its world share, 7,366 worksBiochemistry, Geneti…Immunology and Microbiology: 0.89× its world share, 1,394 worksImmunology and Micro…Neuroscience: 0.78× its world share, 1,963 worksNeurosciencePharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics: 2.23× its world share, 1,223 worksPharmacology, Toxico…Chemical Engineering: 1.74× its world share, 947 worksChemical EngineeringChemistry: 1.84× its world share, 4,496 worksChemistryComputer Science: 1.18× its world share, 14k worksComputer ScienceEarth and Planetary Sciences: 0.58× its world share, 1,420 worksEarth and Planetary …Energy: 2.11× its world share, 3,028 worksEnergyEngineering: 1.10× its world share, 26k worksEngineeringEnvironmental Science: 0.78× its world share, 6,030 worksEnvironmental ScienceMaterials Science: 1.80× its world share, 9,813 worksMaterials ScienceMathematics: 2.58× its world share, 4,737 worksMathematicsPhysics and Astronomy: 0.76× its world share, 2,631 worksPhysics and AstronomyDentistry: 4.43× its world share, 3,352 worksDentistryHealth Professions: 1.01× its world share, 4,171 worksHealth ProfessionsMedicine: 1.12× its world share, 33k worksMedicineNursing: 1.30× its world share, 995 worksNursingVeterinary: 0.75× its world share, 159 worksVeterinaryArts and Humanities: 0.48× its world share, 2,153 worksArts and HumanitiesBusiness, Management and Accounting: 0.79× its world share, 3,985 worksBusiness, Management…Decision Sciences: 1.22× its world share, 1,842 worksDecision SciencesEconomics, Econometrics and Finance: 0.70× its world share, 2,322 worksEconomics, Econometr…Psychology: 0.86× its world share, 4,073 worksPsychologySocial Sciences: 0.42× its world share, 8,380 worksSocial Sciences1×world share
more than its size predictsabout as predictedless

Rings at 0.5×, 1× and 2×. Widest outward: Dentistry, 4.4×. Every wedge is a field page.

Which keywords describe research in Saudi Arabia?

By fractional works in 2022–2025, weighted toward what it does more of than the world: Machine Learning, Deep Learning, Epidemiology, Nanomaterials, Heat Transfer, Nanoparticles, Experimental Investigation and Healthcare.

▲ more of its work than of the world’s◆ about the world’s share▼ less than the world’s

Size is fractional works in 2022–2025 in the topics tagged with each word; colour is the word's share of this country's work against its share of the world's. The 40 words are chosen for being large and distinctive. Each links to the topic it comes from most.

All 40 words, with their numbers
  1. Machine Learning8,086▲ 1.58×97 topics
  2. Epidemiology7,528▲ 1.22×140 topics
  3. Deep Learning7,184▲ 1.35×85 topics
  4. Nanomaterials4,272▲ 2.6×21 topics
  5. Inflammation3,748◆ 1.15×83 topics
  6. Nanoparticles3,651▲ 1.86×44 topics
  7. Oxidative Stress3,061▲ 1.20×63 topics
  8. Healthcare3,040▲ 1.73×38 topics
  9. Renewable Energy3,025▲ 1.35×57 topics
  10. Quality of Life2,988▲ 1.33×58 topics
  11. Heat Transfer2,910▲ 3.8×20 topics
  12. Environmental Impact2,893◆ 1.09×71 topics
  13. Biomedical Applications2,799▲ 1.51×36 topics
  14. COVID-192,662▲ 1.25×33 topics
  15. Graphene2,277▲ 2.1×12 topics
  16. Nanocomposites2,269▲ 1.81×22 topics
  17. Supply Chain Management2,100▲ 1.44×26 topics
  18. Antioxidant2,098▲ 1.96×51 topics
  19. Synthesis1,638▲ 2.8×37 topics
  20. Toxicity1,608▲ 2.4×20 topics
  21. IoT Security1,564▲ 3.1×3 topics
  22. Nanostructures1,533▲ 2.5×17 topics
  23. Experimental Investigation1,504▲ 9.2×5 topics
  24. Smart Cities1,420▲ 3.5×8 topics
  25. Applications1,411▲ 3.3×8 topics
  26. Nonlinear Equations1,409▲ 7.0×6 topics
  27. Solar Energy1,389▲ 2.8×5 topics
  28. Antimicrobial1,317▲ 3.0×14 topics
  29. Medicinal Chemistry1,296▲ 3.0×13 topics
  30. Green Synthesis1,224▲ 4.1×5 topics
  31. Nanofluids1,139▲ 8.9×2 topics
  32. Thermal Conductivity1,127▲ 4.7×8 topics
  33. Review1,111▲ 5.8×5 topics
  34. Anticancer Agents1,063▲ 4.5×12 topics
  35. Viscosity952▲ 8.7×4 topics
  36. Convective Transport917▲ 13×1 topic
  37. Enhancement917▲ 13×1 topic
  38. Fractional Calculus876▲ 9.8×2 topics
  39. Anomalous Diffusion814▲ 9.5×2 topics
  40. Homotopy Analysis Method792▲ 11×1 topic

How many world-class institutions does Saudi Arabia hold?

Average quality and elite capacity disagree by construction, and both are worth knowing: the first is decided by a country’s whole institution population, the second counts the institutions it holds at the top. One square per institution.

51st to 100th1101st to 500th9501st to 1,000th10

Bands are exclusive, so the squares add up to 20 — the institutions it holds in the world top 1,000 — and not to four times it.

Which universities in Saudi Arabia lead research?

King Saud University, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology and King Khalid University rank highest in Saudi Arabia on research quality in 2022–2025.

0%20%40%mean 25.6867%fractional works (log) →share in the world top 10% →King Saud University: 19k, 25.0%King Abdullah University of Science and Technology: 5,747, 28.3%King Khalid University: 7,533, 27.1%King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals: 7,157, 26.2%King Abdulaziz University: 11k, 23.0%Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University: 5,324, 29.3%King Faisal University: 4,847, 28.5%Qassim University: 5,358, 22.0%Prince Sattam Bin Abdulaziz University: 5,353, 28.5%Imam Mohammad ibn Saud Islamic University: 3,850, 26.2%Umm al-Qura University: 5,357, 22.9%Taif University: 4,539, 24.5%Jouf University: 2,746, 28.6%Jazan University: 4,251, 21.4%Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University: 3,766, 23.8%King Abdullah Univer…King Khalid UniversityKing Fahd University…King Saud University
above the meannear itbelow it

One dot per institution in the list below. The upper left is the interesting corner.

  1. 1King Saud UniversityUniversity · Riyadh · #89 worldwide25.0% top 10% · 19k works
  2. 2King Abdullah University of Science and TechnologyUniversity · Jeddah · #109 worldwide28.3% top 10% · 5.7k works
  3. 3King Khalid UniversityUniversity · Abhā · #192 worldwide27.1% top 10% · 7.5k works
  4. 4King Fahd University of Petroleum and MineralsUniversity · Dhahran · #217 worldwide26.2% top 10% · 7.2k works
  5. 5King Abdulaziz UniversityUniversity · Jeddah · #229 worldwide23.0% top 10% · 11k works
  6. 6Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman UniversityUniversity · Riyadh · #363 worldwide29.3% top 10% · 5.3k works
  7. 7King Faisal UniversityUniversity · Hofuf · #377 worldwide28.5% top 10% · 4.8k works
  8. 8Qassim UniversityUniversity · Buraidah · #473 worldwide22.0% top 10% · 5.4k works
  9. 9Prince Sattam Bin Abdulaziz UniversityUniversity · Al Kharj · #479 worldwide28.5% top 10% · 5.4k works
  10. 10Imam Mohammad ibn Saud Islamic UniversityUniversity · Riyadh · #495 worldwide26.2% top 10% · 3.9k works
  11. 11Umm al-Qura UniversityUniversity · Makkah al Mukarramah · #503 worldwide22.9% top 10% · 5.4k works
  12. 12Taif UniversityUniversity · Ta'if · #525 worldwide24.5% top 10% · 4.5k works
  13. 13Jouf UniversityUniversity · Sakakah · #641 worldwide28.6% top 10% · 2.7k works
  14. 14Jazan UniversityUniversity · Gazan · #677 worldwide21.4% top 10% · 4.3k works
  15. 15Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal UniversityUniversity · Dammam · #726 worldwide23.8% top 10% · 3.8k works

The track on each row is its top-10% rate; the tick is the world’s rate in this record, 16.5% — teal above it, red below.

All ranked institutions in Saudi Arabia

Who are the top researchers in Saudi Arabia?

Ziad A. Memish, Ritesh G. Menezes and Abdülhamit Subaşı rank highest among researchers based in Saudi Arabia.

  1. 1 Ziad A. Memish · #58 worldwide 5.3k citations · 162 works
  2. 2 Ritesh G. Menezes · #3,543 worldwide 1.2k citations · 70 works
  3. 3 Abdülhamit Subaşı · #6,645 worldwide 1k citations · 72 works
  4. 4 Mohamed Eddaoudi · #7,021 worldwide 2k citations · 66 works
  5. 5 M. Shamim Hossain · #7,680 worldwide 1.1k citations · 79 works
  6. 6 Carlos M. Duarte · #8,035 worldwide 4.1k citations · 254 works
  7. 7 Mohamad‐Hani Temsah · #8,182 worldwide 4.9k citations · 50 works
  8. 8 Nadeem Shafique Butt · #8,707 worldwide 803 citations · 52 works
  9. 9 Luigi Cavallo · #10,481 worldwide 1.4k citations · 122 works
  10. 10 Lain‐Jong Li · #11,438 worldwide 2.4k citations · 118 works
Top researchers in Saudi Arabia

Which cities in Saudi Arabia are research hubs?

  1. 1 Riyadh Saudi Arabia 143k works
  2. 2 Jeddah Saudi Arabia 71k works
  3. 3 Dhahran Saudi Arabia 33k works

How open and international is Saudi Arabia's research?

58% of its research is openly available (world: 40%), and 43% is written with international co-authors (world: 18%).

openly available57.7%not open42.3%

World: 63% of research is openly available.

with international co-authors43.1%domestic only56.9%

World: 22% is written across borders.

How has Saudi Arabia's research grown?

Output in 2018–2022 was 104% higher than in 2013–2017.

1990200020102020
grewheldshrank

The same series as a ribbon — one cell per year, darker for more. The line above answers how much; this answers when.

Research fields in Saudi Arabia